Just another thought - LA and San Fran are huge compared with DC. Why is DC in the same category? Could it be the slug system that causes the DC problem? After all, it seems logical that mass transit would ease congestion. Isn't that how slugs got their name? From cheating the mass transit system?

What percentage of the days would you say that the regular lanes on the 395 part are actually moving faster than the HOVs on average from Springfield? I say 50-70 percent. Mostly because of hybrids. Overall, the total hov system is still much faster because of the Occoquan, but the northern part is getting seriously congested, especially in midweek.

Just this morning the main lanes traveled at the same pace or faster between Lorton and Crystal City (6:50-7:25). The same thing has been happening more and more. I was reading an article on the washingtonpost.com from a year ago in which it said the HOV lanes were operating with 400-500 more cars per lane per hour than rated for. Fast forward another year and I beleive that number has grown tremendously. As for Buses to move all these people, where are they? There's extremely few buses that exist to pick up people between Fredericksburg and Woodbridge.

I can only speak to I395. For the majority of the trip both ways, express lanes move faster than the regular. For regular, the backups from Edsall to around Exit 5 have vehicles moving an AVERAGE (not maximum) of about 15-20 mph. On the express lanes, I've lately noticed slowdowns at the merge from both Seminary and Shirlington - which I attribute to buses. Despite the slowdown, I AVERAGE the speed limit until the Pentagon back up.

For the return trip, it is rare that the express lanes travel slower than the speed limit; i.e., the MINIMUM is the speed limit. On the regular lanes, however, they NEVER get to the speed limit, and have a tremendous back up around exit 4 when they lose a lane.

I travel in the am from 6:30 to 7: 30 depending on work schedule, and I leave the office during all times for the express lane restrictions.

The answer to your question, Bob, is for the overall length of I395, the regular lanes NEVER travel faster than the express lanes. Perhaps you can get one of the drivers to travel the regular lanes with you and keep in cell phone contact with someone being picked up at the same time who travels in the express lanes and check for yourself. You will clearly see that the express lanes travel faster then the regular lanes 100% of the time over the length of the interstate.

I figure this is a taste of things to come with the toll road. As for congestion around Springfield, I think it comes from people still moving onto the HOV to bypass the interchange, plus the increase in the number of cars overall.

This is all meaningless personalized speculation unsupported by data. We do not have a complete traffic study of the lanes showing how many vehicles of what kinds at what speeds at what times coming from and going to where.

You'd think the toll road investors would want that data, but they didn't ask for it for the Beltway toll road project. They used a simple traffic projection and overlaid guesses from other toll roads in other parts of the country.

So who knows what causes the morning backups --- it could be...
Excess and/or increased number of vehicles?
Poor ramp design?
Too few exits?
Too many entrances?
Weather?
Time of year?
Pentagon or Federal work shift policies?
The fact that the commuter lots all fill at the same time so everyone leaves at the same time, regardless of their work schedule?

We don't know the answers to these questions, presenting another perfect opportunity for the Sponge to wax eloquent! [:o)]

Choke points! Many thousands of commuters coming from suburban VA (and MD), converge on DC via four or five bridge access points each morning, and exit the city the same way each night. Sponge has indicated several problems with the area's highway design, all aggrivate congestion at these choke points.

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